YO GEORGIANS! :)

[GAFarmGirl87]

So now monday night is showing 3 degrees! With a high of 23!! It just keeps dropping... 16 this morning. I know we need a cold winter, but this is ridiculous!

 

[abmaddox1981]

Everyone talking about this cold weather, I went to check my coops this morning and I couldn't find my ducks! Went in the coop an started moving birds (they were all piled together like a chicken pyramid) my ducks were under the silkies! And boy did they give me the stink eye!

 

[GoldenChicks16]

@GAFarmGirl87 We mainly raise our girls for egg production and we sell the eggs to a dinner in Jefferson. We do have some breeding pairs though where we keep the rooster to hen ratio reasonable for fertility (my silkies, my purebred Golden Comets, my Cornish cross and her rooster, and our Runner ducks). I have a partridge rooster though and am hoping to get a hen for him.

 

[Flowerbh]

Everyone talking about this cold weather, I went to check my coops this morning and I couldn't find my ducks! Went in the coop an started moving birds (they were all piled together like a chicken pyramid) my ducks were under the silkies! And boy did they give me the stink eye!

Not so much that the ducks were cold but that the chickens wanted to get near all that down!!!! (Like in a down comforter) hahahhaha

 

[abmaddox1981]

Not so much that the ducks were cold but that the chickens wanted to get near all that down!!!!  (Like in a down comforter)  hahahhaha

 

All I know is they were all giving me evil fowl (fowl,foul hahaha) looks. Not my fault it's cold. Mother nature needs a prozac.

 

[GAFarmGirl87]

Everyone talking about this cold weather, I went to check my coops this morning and I couldn't find my ducks! Went in the coop an started moving birds (they were all piled together like a chicken pyramid) my ducks were under the silkies! And boy did they give me the stink eye!

 

[GAFarmGirl87]

@GoldenChicks16 I started out in April wanting them for egg purposes only. Right now there's only enough eggs to be sold to family & coworkers. I had to "retire" an aggressive rooster back in the summer, and the meat was so tasty I decided to raise birds for meat too. So, my plan is to hatch enough eggs to replenish my flock each year. Extra roos will be raised as meat birds, along with any of the older hens that aren't laying enough to warrant keeping them as layers.

My birds are mainly mixed breeds, though I have a few pure breeds. I'm not sure how good fertility is, but I guess I'll find out this spring!

I figure, if all else fails, I'll just have to buy some hatching eggs from a reputable breeder on this site, or I'll find a breeder close by here to buy straight-run chicks from. It's just too expensive to buy young adults every year.

 

[carcar80]

@GAFarmGirl87 what breed mixes do you have and how long do you grow them before retiring them?

 

[GoldenChicks16]

@abmaddox1981 Ducks are such silly little things! Ever since my ducks learned that they get a treat of green beans for being sweet to the babies, they follow me everywhere!
@GAFarmGirl87 We got out first batch in February of last year (last year.. Hard to believe it 2014) with intentions of having them as egg layers. But with hard times I've ended up adopting others flocks who could no longer care for them.. So now we have started raising our Cornish crosses for meat (delicious). Our last rooster was older but had a heart condition we didn't want passing off to offspring (bred a few batches before we knew what it was). But the offspring he did breed to seem to be fine and haven't shown signs of it. Anyway, he was culls to make room for the other, younger rooster and he was delicious! Almost like roast beef where his meet was dark!

 

[GAFarmGirl87]

@carcar80 Well I'm still technically a newbie, as this is still my first year. The rooster I mentioned above was roughly 8 or 9 months old when he retired. I've read it's best to butcher meat birds at around 5 months. I wont be able to do that until I start raising my own chicks.

My breeds include red comet, black copper marans (not good quality), ameraucana, orpington, game, and easter egger. Most in my flock are bcms, or a bcms mix, next would be game-i have about 5 of those, and then I have about 5 or 6 easter eggers.

I've lost 2 birds in 2013 due to sour crop. Both hens were pure black, either a very poor quality bcms, or a bcms mix. Not sure. I plan to steer away from those in the future.